1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for discharge and comminution of a chip, having a chip guide and a comminution apparatus, to which the chip guide guides the chip along a chip path. The chip guide has a guide channel that circumferentially surrounds the chip path having a channel inlet and a channel outlet. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for discharge and comminution of a chip, wherein the chip is guided in a guide channel along a chip path to a comminution apparatus, with which the chip is comminuted.
2. Description of the Related Art
Apparatuses and methods of the aforementioned type are particularly used in welding of pipes in what are called pipe welding systems. Pipe welding systems are used for the production of pipes welded with a longitudinal seam, wherein plates or—as an alternative—steel strips wound up into coils serve as the raw material. The coils are unwound and straightened in the strip preparation unit. Subsequently, the strip ends are cut off and welded to one another. This process is done in a transverse welding machine. In order for the entire pipe welding system not to have to be shut down during the welding process in the transverse welding machine, a spiral strip storage unit is used, which is filled with steel strip and continuously feeds the subsequent machines. After the spiral strip storage unit, the strip is guided into the strip forming unit, which consists of a pre-forming region and a forming region. In the pre-forming region, the strip edges are bent and the strip is slowly formed to be round. In the forming segment, generally consisting of three blade frames, the strip edges are brought together precisely, until they are finally pressed together and welded in the welding frame. In order to be able to remove the welding burr or welding chip that occurs during welding, immediately or as quickly as possible, outer burr removers are used. These devices use a scraping tool to remove the chip from the finished, welded pipe, by scraping it off. For welding, an inductive press-welding method with high-frequency currents is used, for example.
Apparatuses and methods of the type indicated above are known, for example, from EP 1 238 736 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,123,106 B2, and are intended for discharging the scraped-off or removed chip and comminuting it, wherein a chip guide is provided for discharging or guiding the chip, which guide has a guide channel that circumferentially surrounds the chip path.
Because the scraped-off or discharged chip generally has very sharp edges and can have a temperature of up to 800° C., the guide channel that surrounds the chip path circumferentially offers effective protection against injuries.
In particular due to the circumstance that the discharged or scraped-off chip has very sharp edges and is very hot, regular maintenance of the apparatus for discharge and comminution of the chip is required after a certain period of use.